Ok, time to confess. I’ve been holding back, haven’t talked about it, but it’s time. Sometimes you can keep secrets, sometimes you can’t. I love the music of Barry Manilow! Bam! It’s out there, I feel better. I’ve loved his music since the 70’s and just really believe his lyrics to be so, so powerful. Who among us doesn’t have a “Mandy” or a “Mark” (whatever the name might be for a boyfriend you let slip through)? His music can make you dance, laugh, cry and feel real joy. Not many artists, in my humble opinion, can do that and do it over decades! If you Google his name you will get over a million hits and today he is 71 years old and on a tour right now.
At one time in 1978 he had 5 albums circulating in the top ten on the charts. I can say I might be one of the few on staff here who have actually attended a Barry Manilow concert! It was awesome as you can sing along with almost every song. “This one’s for you”, “I made it through the rain”, “Even now” are some of his hits and he has done commercial jingles as well(State Farm, Band-Aids, etc.) He appeared multiple times on American Bandstand and is a multi-award winning artist. And it’s okay if you don’t like his music, or some of you may have no idea who I’m talking about!
We all have favorites! For every musician or group you listen to there may be someone else who doesn’t care for their music. And that’s okay! God has created us all different, with all kinds of musical tastes, and all kinds of hobbies, interests and past times. It’s all good. Over the weekend my family played “Corn Hole”. It’s a ridiculous game of tossing bean bags onto a wooden “platform” that has a hole in it. If you make your beanbag go in the hole or on the platform you get points. My two younger brothers are good at this, I am not. It takes a special “arch” to your beanbag in the way you throw it.
God has no “favorites” liking one person over another. All are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and all of us are equally loved by God. In and among that love comes the gifts God has given each of us to use in the world of Via de Cristo! Some to be table cha’s, some to be rollista’s, some to sponsor, some to cook, some to clean, some to talk, some to pastor, rector/rectora, BUT ALL TO INVITE!! C’MON, remember who invited you to your weekend? Invite someone else today and throughout this summer gearing up for fall weekends. You and I are gifted for such a time as this. This is our ministry and it will keep on keeping on “singing” out to all the lost and saying together “Come, Holy Spirit…”.
Oh, I almost forgot. I want to invite YOU to come to the National Gathering this July! Join us in Illinois and check everything about your national organization at www.viadecristo.org! GLYASDI,
Pastor DougS
NLS SD
Pastor Doug Givan
Chaplain
St. Vincent Clay (Brazil)
St. Vincent Seton Specialty (Indianapolis)
dgivan@stvincent.org (email)
“I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something hopeful.” – Bob Hope
“May the Lord continually bless us with Heaven’s blessings as well as with human joys..” Ps. 128:5
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
